Before
by Latent Radiance
Summary: A lonely boy, a distressed Brit, a broken spirit, and a deranged voice. None knew their paths would interlock in such a way. Before, they were just trying to survive. Pre-Cannon One-shot.


A/N: Decided to dig up an old one-shot of mine. I wrote this a while ago, so please excuse any mistakes or rough points. Could be possible Puzzleshipping and/or Tendershipping, if you look at it that way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters. Written for entertainment purposes only.

Enjoy~

* * *

Yuugi sighed, staring at the blank ceiling of his room. He waited as figures moved outside of his room, casting dark shadows to dance along the walls from the dim light that shone from his door's cracks. He heard the faint murmurs of whisperings as his grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou, and his mother, Mitsumi Mutou, said their goodnights.

The teen quickly closed his amethyst orbs once his door creaked open, revealing a young woman with red-brown hair and deep, lavender eyes standing beside an old man with gray, spiked hair and the same amethyst eyes Yuugi Mutou had.

Mitsumi approached the boy first, brushing golden bangs away from his face and bending down to plant a sweet, chaste kiss on his forehead. She murmured goodnight and left to her own room. Sugoroku entered next. He walked over to the bed, surprisingly agile for his old age, and gave Yuugi's head a little pat, also saying a short goodnight.

As soon as they left, Yuugi's resolve crumbled. Silently, he let the tears fall. At the ripe age of 16, Yuugi had already gone through more than a boy his age should never go through. Bullying of both the verbal and physical kind, hardly any friends to talk to - although he could sometime rely on his childhood pal Anzu Mazaki, but she was considered one of the popular, beautiful cheerleaders whose reputation would surely fall if caught seen with Yuugi - and the teen's only pleasure in life was his family and the games he brought to school on occasion.

But one thing stood above the rest of his physical possessions. He only brought it to school if he was sure that none of the bullies would do a check in his bag, stealing anything they found of value. His grandfather had given it to him, saying that if he completed it, his most desired wish would come true.

That item was the Sennen Puzzle.

The Sennen Puzzle was contained in an ancient golden box that had hieroglyphics and the infamous Eye of Horus inscripted on its sides. Once opened, one could see the many pieces of the puzzle, all golden and in different sizes and shapes.

It had been eight years since he had received the Puzzle and he had yet to finish it, like the many people before him.

But that was not the reason he was crying now. No, Yuugi Mutou was crying because this was the only time he allowed himself to show weakness, the only time no one else was around to be concerned of him, or make fun of how pathetic he was. Being the selfless person he was, Yuugi wouldn't allow anyone, not even his own flesh and blood, to worry over him. Night had recently become his favorite time, where he could hide nothing and just think.

Contemplating the reason he was still alive, why he had no friends, if it was really going to get better like the teachers always encouraged the high schoolers to always believe. These things were just some of the topics his mind took ahold of as he let the tears flow and his face contort in the effort to keep quiet and hold in his loud sobs of agony and despair.

Yuugi's hand reached out into the darkness, seeking reassurance in his most prize possession. He quickly located the Sennen Puzzle's box and brought it into the light of the moon shining in from his skylight. He thumbed the Eye of Horus thoughtfully before lifting the lid and uncovering the scattered puzzle pieces that lay inside.

He pulled out his favorite piece. It had the Eye of Horus also engraved on in, its angles jutting out randomly. A sudden warmth filled Yuugi's body as he fondly toyed with the golden piece. He smiled softly, wiping his shed tears away.

He glanced at the clock. Midnight. Yuugi bit his lip, knowing all too well that he had school the next morning and that he needed to be awake in little less than seven hours. The warmth became more noticeable, as if sensing its owner's inner conflict.

That was when Yuugi decided to ignore the time and focus on the puzzle that he hadn't worked on in a few nights because of the many tests that kept popping up in the teen's schedule.

Quietly, he shifted from his covers warm grasp and stood, gripping the puzzle's box tightly as if it'd disappear any second.

He set it down on his desk, flickering on the small lamp so he could see better. Blinking to adjust to the sudden light, he set about carefully removing the many pieces that lay inside the box.

He lifted two pieces and fiddled with them, trying to make them click together. Some pieces that were already connected to one another lay on one side of the desk, while the many more individual pieces lay on the other side.

Yuugi growled lightly, figuring that these two pieces would not fit. He set one of them down and picked up another. This process went on for the rest of the night. The boy would make small sounds of victory once he made any progress, or sounds of annoyance when two pieces didn't fit together.

It was only until the exhaustion from lack of sleep came to Yuugi did he accidentally fall asleep on the desk, clutching the piece with the Eye of Horus on it like a lifeline.

It wasn't an uncommon event. Sugoroku and Mitsumi often came into Yuugi's room the following morning to find the boy passed out on his desk with the incomplete puzzle laying innocently beside him. Mitsumi worried the most. She believed that the Sennen Puzzle was a possessed item that was forcing her son into completing it so the spirit inside would become free and in turn possess Yuugi into doing unforgivable sins.

Whenever she brought the subject up with her father-in-law, however, Sugoroku just chided her at the childish fears she held for such an item.

Little did they know that Mitsumi was more right than the three Mutou's would ever deem possible.

* * *

Ryou Bakura shifted through his things, only pausing to take in his new apartment space. His father had rented it for him, promising to send enough money for him to pay the rent and buy food.

Ryou didn't mind. His father was often gone on his little adventures and he only got to see him once every other month or so, depending on how involved his father was in the expedition.

A familiar clang alerted Ryou of the golden ring necklace that his father had given him when he had came back from one of his expedition in Egypt. It had small, diamond shaped ringlets hanging from it's main body, the Eye of Horus held snugly in the middle.

Ryou bit his bottom lip, gnawing it in thought. Recently, the teen had become a little reluctant to put it on, for he often received blackouts in where he woke up to find himself in a completely different location than he was when he had passed out. It frightened him to no end, especially when he found out that most of his friends had entered comatose states during the time he was unconscious. Rumors then started flying when Ryou had actually woken up to find his unresponsive friends laying near his RPG board he had made himself. He called the police, but after a few interviews, he got out of any jail time he would've gotten because of lack in evidence.

The rumors soon became too unbearable for Ryou to handle, so he had to pack up and move to a whole different location: Domino City, Japan.

He was to start school at Domino High once he got settled in. This led to some much needed - and dreaded - thinking time.

Ryou fingered one of the ringlets on the Sennen Ring, as his father called it. A cold chill made his muscles dance in a slight shiver and he swiftly removed his hand from the ring's surface.

It seemed to be calling out to him. Begging him to put the worn cord around his neck and never take it off again.

Ryou knew better than to trust the voice inside his head.

The voice hadn't always been there. No, it had only appeared after Ryou's first blackout, well over a year after his father had given him the Sennen Ring. Ryou had panicked, realizing that he was at home rather than at school, where he last remembered being. The voice spoke up, reassuring him that he was fine and healthy.

Ryou had officially gone into panic mode upon hearing the voice, shouting that whatever joke was being pulled, it was not a funny one. The voice had just told him that it was no joke and that he came from the ring.

Ryou remembered throwing out the ring by flinging it from his window in a weak attempt to rid of the voice. It had worked, but only until he had found the Sennen Ring by his nightstand the following morning.

The voice called out to him now, and it was obvious to Ryou that it wanted his body again.

"I am not putting you on." The teen murmured to the item in the firmest voice he could muster.

A deep, dark laughter came from the back of his mind.

_Ah, but Yadonushi, I want to help you. Put me on, and your wish will come true._

Ryou shook his head as if to banish the voice from his mind. "No. I will not let you harm anyone else. I am starting over here and you will not ruin this for me."

_But you want me to help you. I sense it deep within your soul, Yadonushi. Let me help you._

"I don't need any help." Ryou growled. "Especially help from you, Koe."

The voice laughed again at the name Ryou had grown to call it. Koe, meaning voice, was a suitable name for the thing that resided in the teen's mind.

_I think you'll find yourself more willing to receive my help soon enough…_

Suddenly, Ryou's fingers twitched and slowly moved toward the item on their own accord. Ryou gasped, trying to stop himself from doing just what the voice wanted him to do.

"Please, stop," Ryou whimpered pathetically. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

_Don't worry, Goshujin-sama. Just go to sleep. I will handle that rude neighbor of yours who was so kind to have pushed you around._

Ryou shook his head and opened his mouth to protest, but the words never came as his fingers finally grasped the Sennen Ring and he felt his consciousness being torn from him in the most unpleasant ways.

As the world grew dark, Ryou let a faint tear of distress escape and slide down his cheek before the voice took full control.

* * *

He twitched, trying once again to break free from the darkness that plagued him. Were his eyes open? Or were they closed? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything.

Where was he? Why was it so dark? Was anyone else here?

He tried blinking. He felt his eyelids move, but nothing happened to his surroundings. They remained dark and devoyant of life. Was he even alive?

Who was he?

That was the question that made his mind reel and his muscles twitch. How could he forget something like that? What his name was, what he looked like, what his life was like before the darkness descended upon him like a cloud of misery and despair…

Did he even have a life before? Was he even alive in the first place?

He tried blinking once more. Still nothing happened. Growling in frustration, he tried speaking. He could feel his vocal cords being used, but absolutely no sound broke the still silence of the darkness.

He wanted to cry. He wanted to shout. He wanted to move. Nothing could be done.

A dull pain echoed throughout his body - if he indeed possessed such a thing. He vaguely remembered a time when the pain was unbearable and that he had screamed to no end, begging for relief.

He remembered the first time he felt it. He saw it.

A light. It was a small one, which barely shown in the crushing darkness of his home, but it was there nonetheless. Along with it came a plethora of positive emotions he hadn't even known existed.

Happiness. Hope. Determination. Wonder…

Love.

It tingled his insides, and he was sure that if he could, he would've laughed in delight. Such a beautiful mix of emotions and feelings that temporarily distracted him from the darkness and took away his hopeless situation.

He didn't know how long each time passed between the light's visits. Time seemed to have no meaning in the dark world he was in. The only thing he did know was that as soon as the light left, leaving behind a silent promise to return, the darkness instantly surrounded him again, shrouding any positive emotion he gathered from the visit.

He knew that anytime spent away from the light was far too long of a wait.

If not for the bonds that seemed to both crush and hold him, he would've ran straight towards the light and embraced it until the end of all days.

Something flickered on the edge of his vision. Turning, he spotted the thing he most desired.

The light had returned.

He felt his lips, those he was for sure known to have, curl into a relieved smile. He tried to call out to it, but, again, his voice was silent. The light didn't need to hear him, though. It's positive emotions flooded into him once more. He wanted to caress such a thing, but something told him it was impossible.

He felt the light grow stronger, then dim somewhat. Fear shot through him, making him jerk against his bonds. He barely noticed the hold on him was loosened from the time the light was not there, for he was too busy trying to keep the light from leaving.

Please, he begged silently, please do not leave so soon.

The light must've heard him, for it grew and stayed. He tried moving again. He managed a little wiggle, but his bonds were still too strong. He knew that with every visit, the bonds weakened. He knew that soon, with enough visits, the light will weaken the bonds to the point of them breaking and releasing him. Then his fantasy would become reality.

He sighed in content as the light's essence flowed around him, making his stomach do flips and tricks he didn't know such an organ could do.

The light stayed longer this time. It faded somewhat at one point, but stayed nonetheless. This happened often, but not often enough to his tastes. The light lulled him into a kind of sleep, but he knew that it was anything but. He thought it to be more of a comatose state that rested his mind, but not the pain he still felt with the darkness.

_Just a little longer, and my Hikari will set me free._

He surprised himself at the sudden term he hadn't known before, but was too mentally exhausted to really care.

He let the light hold him until his consciousness was forgotten in the dark, wispy world that was his own.

* * *

He watched the unmoving form that was his Yadonushi's former neighbor. The man had been far too rude to little Ryou at their first meeting. The man had called Ryou a bunch of names and even threatened him if he caused too much trouble.

The voice who had been in Ryou's head was now in his body, occasionally checking to see if the teen was still sleeping deep within his soul. No use in having the innocent boy wake when he still had blood on his hands.

The spirit concluded that to be a harsh blow to the small amount of trust the boy still had for him.

He left the small living room and entered the kitchen, running cold water over his red digits. The liquids mixed, staining the already dirty sink. He watched with a sadistic gleam in his eyes - although, in reality, they were not his eyes, but Ryou's eyes.

He left once he felt his Yadonushi stirring. He laid the boy's body down onto his bed before letting Ryou take back control.

As he expected, the teen panicked upon awaking. He demanded the spirit to tell him what he did while he was unconscious.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Yadonushi." He stated, sitting in the confines of the Sennen Ring.

_I deserve the right to know what you did with my body, Koe._

"You would just get angry with me, and I do hate it when you get angry with me."

The spirit smirked when he felt Ryou's irritation at his sarcasm. However - though he would never admit this to anyone - the spirit did feel anything but happy when he felt Ryou getting upset towards him. Ryou was the only person the spirit could communicate with - for his victims were not the most pleasing to talk to - so he rather…enjoyed the company of his Yadonushi.

_I hate you._

The spirit chuckled. "And I care for you."

Ryou was silent after that. It took a few moments for the spirit to realize that he had fallen asleep.

He sighed, watching from the ring as the boy slept peacefully. He did not want to cause Ryou harm. He did not want to make the teen upset. He merely wished to give Ryou the life he never had...back when he had a life.

He wanted Ryou to have a life with no hardships. To have him keep his innocent soul for as long as possible. But as he took control of Ryou's body and committed acts that are unspeakable, he realized that everytime he tried to do good, he in the end did something that hurt Ryou even more.

_I will protect Ryou's innocence,_ He thought to himself, careful not to send the thought to the sleeping boy. _Even if it means shattering any chance of a good relationship we ever had._

Much later, he would reflect upon that promise and deem it to have been impossible to accomplish from the start.


End file.
